The wastewater lagoon in Parsons, WV was experiencing multiple permit violations due to issues like low dissolved oxygen, high BOD and TSS levels, and algae blooms. The city's old surface aeration system was ineffective and expensive to maintain. They installed a portable aeration system from Triplepoint Water Technologies which quickly resolved the compliance issues and was more cost effective. The new system uses fine and coarse bubble diffusers to efficiently mix and aerate the lagoon, reducing operating costs significantly compared to the old system.

1. T
he 400,000 gpd wastewater lagoon in Parsons, W.Va., had dis-
solved oxygen, BOD5, TSS, ammonia, and significant algae
problems, resulting in more than 40 state Department of Envi-
ronmental Protection permit violations in six months.
The surface aeration system — four vertical splasher-type and
four horizontal aspirator-type surface aerators installed across six
of the seven treatment cells — was the wrong equipment for a
lagoon 10 feet deep. Air never reached the bottom, and mixing air
and water at the surface created heavy stress on the motors. They
failed frequently.
The city solved its problem quickly and cost-effectively by installing
a new portable aeration system from Triplepoint Water Technologies.
Tough To mainTain
The old aeration system was a challenge to maintain and service.
“Disassembling the compressor from the mixer was difficult and
time consuming, and I needed a boat to reach them,” says chief
wastewater operator Frank White. “I would send the equipment out
for repair, but it was very expensive.”
The lagoon’s annual maintenance budget was $5,000, and the
work was risky: once the boat capsized near the edge, and White and
an employee fell into the lagoon (they were not injured). Unable to
take the facility offline to drain the lagoon and install a diffused aera-
tion system, city officials believed they had no option except to con-
tinue using surface aeration.
But White was not convinced. He found Stu Harper of S.R. Harper
Inc., a manufacturer’s repre-
sentative in Canonsburg, Pa., who put him in touch with Braden
O’Leary from Triplepoint. “Parsons needed an inexpensive rehabili-
tation, and our MARS 3000 aeration technology was a good fit,” says
O’Leary. “We simply hook up the units, lower them into the water,
and turn on the blowers.”
After a product presentation, the city council voted to purchase
an 18-unit aeration system, but funding for it would take a year. The
DEP responded to the delay by issuing an ultimatum. “They told us
to get some air into the lagoon or face serious penalties,” says White.
O’Leary offered to install an emergency system to tide the city
over until the full system was installed. “We mustered a blower and
four aerators incorporating fine- and coarse-bubble diffusion — less
than one-fourth the recommended aeration for the lagoon,” he says.
Despite this, the equipment brought BOD5 and TSS levels into com-
pliance within one month.
high efficiency
When working properly, the Parsons Wastewater Treatment Plant
used $24,000 of electricity annually. The high-speed surface aerators
(total 50 hp) averaged 2 pounds of oxygen per horsepower hour (lb/
hp-hr). The MARS 3000 unit, with Double Bubble technology, can
produce 7 to 8 lb/hp-hr of oxygen, and the full system delivers 20
brake horsepower (the power actually used).
Breath of Fresh Air
A portAble AerAtion system provides both immediAte And long-term solutions
to compliAnce issues with A west virginiA city’s treAtment lAgoon
By Scottie Dayton
HOW WE DO IT
A city employee tightens the stainless steel header connecting the Kaeser blowers to
the aeration units.
the 18 mArs 3000 aeration
chassis before the addition
of eight fine-bubble diffuser
membranes and four
weighted legs.
photoscourtesyoftriplepointwAtertechnologies
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Reprinted with permission from TPO™ / February 2011 / © 2011, COLE Publishing Inc., P.O. Box 220, Three Lakes, WI 54562 / 800-257-7222 / www.tpomag.com

2. Each aerator diffuses up to 30 cfm and has a central coarse-bub-
ble tube surrounded by eight 9-inch membrane fine-bubble diffusers
positioned 16 inches above the sediment. The 29-inch-high units
have four weighted legs and a bottom clearance of 11 inches. An
onshore blower pumps air through flexible weighted tubing through
the unit’s central static tube, creating a venturi that circulates the
water and liquefied sludge. Anti-clogging technology on all the dif-
fusers prevents backflow.
While suspended in the water column, the sludge mixes with fine
bubbles from the self-cleaning membrane diffusers. The high sur-
face-area-to-volume ratio of degraded debris and fine bubbles maxi-
mizes contact time and efficiently reduces BOD5 levels.
“We didn’t have to do any work on the lagoon to prepare it for the
installation,” says White. “As soon as we turned on the blower, the
mixing process brought foul-smelling black sludge to the surface.”
Within 24 hours, oxygen had broken down the sulfur and methane
and dissipated the odor.
compleTe rehabiliTaTion
In April 2010, the four remaining surface aerators were removed
and the full 18-unit MARS aeration system was installed. One aerator
went into each of the four concrete pretreatment basins, 10 into the
lagoon’s primary treatment cell, and four into the secondary treat-
ment cell.
“We didn’t aerate the tertiary treatment cell because it’s used as a
settling basin before disinfecting and discharging the water to the
Shavers Fork River,” says White.
Flexible weighted tubing attaches each aerator to an onshore
Type 304 stainless steel header with custom-welded manifolds. The
airflow, regulated by ball valves on the manifolds, comes from two
onshore Kaeser 15 hp CB 130C tri-lobe blowers, each delivering up to
270 cfm.
“The blowers run quietly at 60 to 70 decibels,” says White.
“Depending on how we set the variable-frequency drive on the one
unit, the city will spend $6,000 to $9,000 on electricity annually, instead
of $24,000.”
The aerators have no moving parts —
the blower requires only oil changes and
new belts on a regular schedule. Conse-
quently, the city reduced the lagoon’s main-
tenance budget from $5,000 annually to
$500. “The system will pay for itself within
four years and save the city many thousands
of dollars over its lifetime,” says White.
two Kaeser cb 130c blowers and their header are tested for leaks
before backfilling of the trench.
A city employee controls the airflow to each mArs unit in cell one by way of a stain-
less steel ball valve connected to a stainless steel air manifold.
Kaeser Compressors, Inc.
540/834-4520
www.kaeser.com
Triplepoint Water
Technologies
630/208-0720
www.triplepointwater.com
more info:
this graph illustrates the savings over time from installation of the mArs aeration
system.
“The system will pay for itself within four
years and save the city many thousands of
dollars over its lifetime.”
FrAnk WHITE
Reprinted with permission from TPO™ / February 2011 / © 2011, COLE Publishing Inc., P.O. Box 220, Three Lakes, WI 54562 / 800-257-7222 / www.tpomag.com
USRAERATION